


Look Around, Look Around (at how lucky we are to be alive right now)

by CombatBootsandDreams



Series: Glow in the dark [3]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, An ode to local independent book stores, Avatar of The End Gerard Keay, Gerard Keay Lives, I think this might switch tenses half way through, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Alice "Daisy" Tonner Are Best Friends, M/M, Monster Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, No beta we kayak like Tim, Person who has never been in a relationship tries to writes romance, The Magnus Archives Season 3, Tim Stoker and Jonathan Sims are trying to be friends, but it might, i don't think it does - Freeform, sorry about that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:55:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26536162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CombatBootsandDreams/pseuds/CombatBootsandDreams
Summary: Gerard Keay thinks about his life, his bookstore, and his boyfriend.
Relationships: Gerard Keay/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: Glow in the dark [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924183
Comments: 4
Kudos: 101





	Look Around, Look Around (at how lucky we are to be alive right now)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I just want to thank everyone who left comments on my last two stories. They made my day, my week, and quite possibly my month. If anyone has an idea for this story feel free to leave a comment, it doesn't mean I'll do it, but I will think about it.

The bookstore was a small, cheap, hole in the wall, with high enough ceilings and windows that covered most of the wall facing the street. They named it “The Final Chapter” a pun only two avatar’s of The End and one avatar of The Eye would find funny. Jon had been the one to come up with the name. At least four drinks in at the bar and smashed between the wall and Gerry himself. Jon had good alcohol tolerance, really good alcohol tolerance and could drink half of the people there under the table but it looked like lack of sleep and food and caught up to him… again.   
“The Final Chapter.” He had muttered under his breath. 

“What?” Gerry had asked mostly because his partner's eyes had been flickering from dark brown to a light almost neon green all night and you never knew what crazy information Beholding could and would slip into the man’s head while drunk.

“It’s what you should name your bookstore, the one you’re starting with Oliver. The Final Chapter. Because you’re both avatars of The End.” Jon repeated curling farther into Gerry’s arms. Nikola made a small cooing noise. A small fond smile crossed Gerry’s face messing with his boyfriend’s long brown hair.   
“That’s a good idea, I’ll run it by him.” Gerry says with plans to actually run it by Oliver. It had been a process with Gerry having to be legally brought back to life and Oliver not having held down a job in ages, but they had finally figured all the loans, location, and book procurements. All they needed was a name. Something they had been thinking about for a while now. Crew had suggested ‘Cliffhanger’ but everyone had decided that was a little to much of the Vast for comfort so then came all the death, book-related puns the avatar group chat could muster someone even throwing in a Leitner related name which had set him on a Leitner rant for five minutes with Jon’s added comments.

That bar conversation had been almost six months ago and “The Final Chapter” had been a success. It was a small local bookstore. The kind that attracted the same couple of people who lived near it and went anytime they need a new book. The kind of place where during the golden hour the sun hit the books in just the right way casting a gold sheen on the entire store. Quiet but comfortable in that way only a bookstore could be. It was nice, really nice. Oliver ran the accounting and even Jon would work a weekend once in a while. It was the closest to normal he was ever going to get. Even though he still ran around burning Leitner’s in his off-hours, but what could he say? Old habits died hard. Speaking of old habits, he still hadn’t been to the Magnus Institute. Not since the whole death incident and Gertrude’s little road trip. As if daring to hit the old stone steps would suck him back into the institute’s clutches. 

Jon, who no matter what the man said and was just starting to accept loved the place. Not the entire institute, just the archives, which made sense considering the circumstances, if being fed on by a god-like entity of cursed knowledge was something that could be summed up in a word like circumstances. Jon had spent the whole day making shelves with Martin and should be at the shop any minute now. The soft bell above the door chimed and a man in a dark jean jacket almost completely covered in pins and patches slid behind the front counter like a cat. Jon’s hair was up, barely being kept out of his face by a brightly colored hair tie. The combat boots added maybe half an inch but considering Gerry’s boots added almost four inches plus the 3 or more real inches he had on Jon it really wasn’t up for debate who was taller, even with Gerry sitting.

“How did the shelf building go?” He asked, his shift was almost over and there were only one or two people still browsing the shelves. The woman who always smiled fondly whenever she saw Jon and Gerry together and behind the counter walked out of the store after buying a gift card for her wife, leaving only one other person.

“It went fine, who knew Beholding knew so much about building shelves?” 

“Daisy would have laughed at you?” Gerry smirked at Jon embarrassed glare.

“Daisy would have laughed at us then made the selves herself in half the time. It doesn’t matter anymore—stop laughing!” Jon pleaded face in hands.

“I’m sorry, it’s just why the hell did you and Martin decide that you were going the be able to build numerous tall and steady shelves?” Gerry asked tattooed hands holding onto Jon’s burnt one. 

“Well it was going to be a team effort, but Basira decided to spend the day helping Melanie try to kill Elias despite neither of them being allowed to do that because of the whole death side effect thing and Tim was in a mood.” Jon explained curling into himself a little bit.

“You can’t control other people’s moods. You two are friends but you both knew it was going to be a process.” He reminded Jon. Tim and Jon’s friendship rebuilding really had been a process. A slow arduous one that broke almost as many things as it had fixed. Like putting hydroperoxide in a wound. Painful, but necessary, and better for both of them in the end. 

“Yeah, I know.” Jon replied drawing his eye to Gerry’s.

They both tended to avoid eye contact. With the effect Beholding had on Jon’s eyes, looking into them could be a minor hazard. Plus, with Gerry growing up hunting Leitner’s and chasing monsters in his adulthood he had learned quickly that sometimes all someone, something needed was eye contact to put you in a real bad place real quick. 

For the minute that didn’t matter, Jon’s brown eyes never gained even a green tint and Gerry knew neither of their eyes were going to hurt the other, not this time at least. The moment was interrupted by the bells going off at the front door.

Anabelle walked in all grace and smiles. Short, curly, bleach blond hair bouncing happily with bits of web still stuck in it. 

“I told them to pick you guys up, or we’d all be late, guess I made the right call.” She says snorting, moving so the last customer can leave. 

“We’re coming Anabelle.” Jon says hotly before jumping up on top of the counter and off of it instead of just walking around it. Not that Gerry could say anything, he did the exact same thing last week. 

“Nikola’s been planning this with Helen for a month.” Anabelle reminds them as Gerry closed down the store.

“I still think letting Helen and Nikola team-up is a terrible idea.” Jon says falling into the familiar conversation he’s been having with Anabelle since Nik and Helen had told everyone about the new attraction.

“I think a mirror maze is a great idea.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope you have a nice day.


End file.
